One common thing Malawians have understood across the country is all the social, Christian, and now Muslim, holidays and events that fall on the national calendar. They have just celebrated Easter in April 2011 and, of course, 3rd May when media freedom is commemorated across the world. Christmas is the mother celebration and so has become Eid al Fitr.

And one common thing they too understand is that the landlocked country of about 13 million people, a majority of which live below the US$1 poverty line, is that as a country, agri-economy is the backbone to its survival. Tobacco, now threatened with the international anti-smoking movement, is not standing up much to beef up the national economy.

Malawi’s national budget is hugely subsidized by development partners to a tune of around 40% with former colonial master, Britain, stitching in around 8 million pounds annually to the holed national purse.

And this is where climate change comes in. Tobacco accounts for a majority of natural tree felling for treating the flue cured type – which is a national export. Much of the central region is tobacco farming county, where natural trees have all been felled to provide fuel. Bare to patchy lands sprawl much of the region today.

Tobacco costs Malawi its natural environment more than any other cash crop that can be imagined. The problem is compounded that little is been done by subsistent tobacco farmers to replant trees and gain from its pro-economic mercies.

Again, power and energy is an added challenge to the country’s environment, estimated for much of the environmental ground cover damage, particularly along the southern region’s section of the M1, where charcoal burning for economic survival is clearing lands at alarming rates. As Malawi stands today, the stretch of about 235 kilometres along the M1 is evidently bare of any trees – creating an atmosphere where rains are now hard to come by and food crops such as maize and groundnuts can hardly survive.

WAKE UP CALL

A Malawi Country Meeting on Climate Change was cobbled up by the Economic Justice Network (EJN) based in South Africa, Cape Town, in Kasungu District early March 2011. Through the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), EJN invited religious leaders and key stakeholders to the meeting with a view of spreading awareness and finding viable solutions to causes and effects of climate change.

However, EJN and MCC recognized, their efforts would be futile if the common man was not involved as an evident key stakeholder. The government of Malawi through its established district environment and natural resources committees spread across the country has done their part. It was, however at this meeting, realized the need to engage everyone and every sector of society.

Government efforts excluded the church, which in Malawi has an approximately 86% outreach to the most rural areas, making it one of the most viable and effective development partners that can reach all corners of the country, including the deep rural areas where most of Malawi’s marginalized poor and least educated populations settle. Most of these are not aware of both the short and long term effects of manmade and natural caused climatic degradation.

MCC told the participating group made up of religious leaders, primary school teachers, social welfare officers, agricultural advisors and environmental officials – all at district level, that: “Time had come that the church took its part in mitigating climate change issues and that as a church, what can we do about climate change.”

CHANGING ATTITUDES

One of the participants, Kasungu District based primary school teacher, Wezi Msowoya said she had no idea climate change causes were that diverse.

“I can now clearly understand that food security, health, natural resources such as water and land, must be protected if the world and Malawi in particular is to survive the future. I did not understand that what we sometimes think are natural actions, such as felling trees to make charcoal to raise funds for our medical care and other needs is a short term benefit over the long term global impact that includes droughts and over-heating,” she said..

She was joined by social welfare worker in the same district, Mary Chiwanda, who said this new understanding will help her impart important knowledge in the grassroots people she works with.

“I now know how to identify climate change issues and hotspots. We have many hills that are now bare as people cut down trees for treating tobacco and for firewood. It will be my new resolve to help the grassroots find viable alternative means of making ends meet at the same time saving our environment. It is perhaps not us who will feel the pain of climate change effects, future generations will suffer if we do not change. I do not want to be part and parcel of a generation that never cared for the future,” she said.

Hotspots that were identified by the group of 25 participants went across the country, raising concerns and leading to a formation of a Task Team to get the ball rolling in reversing the trend.

In the northern region, a major timber company in Mzimba district, Raiply Timber Limited, accounts for the largest logging activities in the region, and perhaps nationally. Raging fires sometimes consume trees before cultivation and there is wanton deforestation in the area by disgruntled workers over pay and dismissals, creating the region’s biggest climate change hotspot.

Despite the North being heavily forested, the rain patterns have changed over the years and some districts now experience serious annual droughts, floods, hailstorms and now earthquakes. Karonga district has now gone three years with serious earthquakes of up to 6.2 on the Richter scale, flash floods and erratic but heavy rains. These have caused large numbers of people to being displaced and some lose their life and property.

The economic downturn due to these climate hurdles, also blamed for manmade causes such as mining, industrial gasses and waste, vehicle and other machinery waster resulting into pollution of the air and the environment, and technological developments all bring worries both the church and government.

Programme Coordinator at MCC, Godfrey Mkandawire says: “It is sad that often government sidelines key players such as the church in dealing with social including, mainly, environmental issues. It is time we all realized that climate change is not only for government to sort, as stakeholders in the social, economic and spiritual development of the Malawian people, we must be recognized and taken on board in mitigating climate change issues.”

Globally, nuclear wastes and bomb effects also add to causes, accounting for disasters in Asia and the Americas.

“Malawians must be told that food security, general health, economic development and trade including cross-border, gender issues, and population matters all have a bearing on the climate. People must be made aware about immediate benefits versus long term global impacts, attitudes versus practices including cultural and traditional, so that they can make informed decisions towards mitigating environmental degradation,” added Mkandawire.

EMPOWERED COMMUNITIES

Prisca Chinyama, Rabson Chapola, James Mwale and Chikumbutso Liwonde all said the workshop was an eye opener and that they looked forward to been part of the new and resolved human machinery to overturn climate change effects in their communities.

“We should all participate in sensitization. The poor rural are mostly affected, causing economic migration, where the urban are also greatly affected due to poor systems in waste disposal management and industrial activity. I am a climate change mitigation campaigner from now on,” expressed Chapola.

Task Team member, Reverend Andrew Kuthyola said the group intends to visit the hotspots with a view of planning awareness tools amongst rural communities in the affected areas.

“We want to engage the rural masses and empower them with the appropriate knowledge on climate change. Of course, as a task team we will have to undergo specialized training ourselves so that out tune is compatible with that of government and the COP17 member states. We want to be part of the global machinery in addressing climate change and improving our environment.”

Apart from the festive celebrations that all Malawians and particularly the rural easily connect with, now they will have one more important activity that will run year through for the benefit of their future. Understanding climate change issues for them will ensure adequate rains, therefore rain-fed subsistence farming will survive and ensure food security; their children will have not only shade from replanted trees, but will also ensured of a better and environmentally friendly future, among the many benefits. Something worthwhile to look forward to with renewed hope.

Malawi is party to the COP17 and this awareness meeting will live to have contributed in opening the eyes of rural poor and changing their attitude towards climate change issues. Hopefully, their efforts will help the nation realize improved practices for the benefit of generations to come.

In such a country where over 75% live below the poverty line, climate change can be a serious issue worth exploring towards mitigating socio-economic factors.